Sojitz Royal Cafe Corporation (Head Office: Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; President: Mariko Nishio)—a joint venture company established by Sojitz Corporation and Royal Holdings Co., Ltd. to operate and expand the café business—will open the Costa Coffee Circles Shibuya store on Friday, August 4^th. This opening represents Japan’s first store as part of its national expansion of Europe’s No.1 coffee brand Costa Coffee, *¹ which is available in 45 countries worldwide. A second location will open in Otemachi on Friday, September 1^st. Sojitz Royal Cafe Corporation also plans to open a flagship store in Ginza on Friday, October 6^th.

Founded in London by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971, Costa Coffee is present in 45 countries around the world with 2,800+ coffee shops in the UK and Ireland and 1,100+ shops in other countries. Costa Coffee has been awarded “Best Branded Coffee Shop Chain in the UK and Ireland" by Allegra Strategies for 12 consecutive years, and Costa Coffee is also favored as Europe's No. 1 cafe brand.

Enjoy premium coffee handcrafted by baristas in a pop art design space which incorporates “uplift” as its store concept
Costa Coffee stores will feature a bright and uplifting interior space that uses Costa Red and Costa Pink accents consistent with the brand’s new design being introduced globally. Costa Coffee’s Signature Blend is slowly roasted to a medium dark roast offering the true flavor and aroma of the coffee beans. Baristas check the taste every day, considering temperature and humidity, and carefully brew the coffee to deliver a balanced taste with a mellow aroma, smooth, and chocolate and nutty flavor that represents "Costa Coffee."

Baristas can recommend the ideal cup for each customer’s preferences from a wide variety of coffee menu items. Customers can enjoy the rich taste of espresso with drinks such as the Flat White and Cortado made with strong espresso and finely frothed milk.  Costa Coffee provides customers with a personalized and uplifting coffee experience that includes latte art toppings (hot only). Costa Coffee’s Frappés are prefect for summer, and customers can enjoy a variety of flavors and textures with accents such as fresh fruit, chocolate pudding and refreshing yogurt. The Strawberry & Peach Fruit Frappé is a visual delight filled with fruit flavors such as strawberries and peach jelly. The menu will include Japan-exclusive flavors such as matcha frappes with azuki beans, among others. The food menu includes a taste of Europe with sliced and filled savory scone sandwiches developed with Royal Holdings.

Sojitz Royal Cafe will continue to meet the diversifying needs of café customers, enrich people’s lives, and realize sustainable growth.

*1 Ranking based on number of store locations (Allegra World Coffee Portal Research and Analysis, 2021)
*2 COSTA COFFEE is a registered trademark of COSTA Limited

Store Overview

Store Name	COSTA COFFEE CIRCLES Shibuya
Location	2-9-8, Shibuya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Store Area	13.68 Tsubo
Seating Capacity	None
Store Hours	7am – 10pm No regular holidays
Opening Date	10am, Friday, August 4, 2023

Store Name	COSTA COFFEE OOTEMORI
Location	1-5-5 Otemachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
Store Area	11.47 Tsubo
Seating Capacity	None
Store Hours	7am – 9pm No regular holidays
Opening Date	10am, Friday, September 1, 2023

Related Information
About Sojitz Royal Cafe Corporation
Sojitz Royal Cafe Corporation was established in January 2023 by Sojitz Corporation and Royal Holdings Co., Ltd as a joint venture company with the purpose of operating and expanding the Costa Coffee café business. In February 2021, the companies signed a capital and business tie-up to establish a strategic partnership. Through this strategic partnership, the companies aim to raise their corporate value further by leveraging Royal HD’s supply chain management capabilities in the restaurant business and store operation know-how along with Sojitz’s project management and global networks to promote high-affinity businesses and to create and deliver new products, services, and value.

Website: https://www.srcafe.co.jp/ （Japanese only）

About COSTA COFFEE
Costa Coffee was founded in London by Italian brothers Sergio and Bruno Costa in 1971. In business for over 50 years, Costa Coffee is ranked Europe's No. 1 café brand. Costa Coffee is committed to making the perfect cup of coffee, which involves everything from coffee bean selection to roasting, extraction, and milk. Coffee masters have protected the Costa’s luxurious flavor since its founding, which is brought to life by skilled baristas serving the finest artisan quality coffee.

Costa Coffee is present in 45 countries with 4000+ coffee shops around the world. Costa Coffee has been awarded “Best Branded Coffee Shop Chain in the UK and Ireland" by Allegra Strategies for 12 consecutive years from 2010 through 2021.

As a total coffee brand, Costa Coffee provides delicious coffee to consumers in Japan through 1,200+ stores (as of April 2023) which include many channels such as commercial-use solutions and PET bottle coffee.

Website　 https://c.cocacola.co.jp/costacoffee/
Instagram　 https://www.instagram.com/costacoffeejp
Twitter　https://twitter.com/CostaCoffee_JP

About Sojitz Corporation
Sojitz Corporation was formed out the union of Nichimen Corporation and Nissho Iwai Corporation, both companies that boast incredibly long histories. For more than 160 years, our business has helped support the development of countless countries and regions. Today, the Sojitz Group consists of approximately 400 subsidiaries and affiliates located in Japan and throughout the world, developing wide-ranging general trading company operations in a multitude of countries and regions.

About Royal Holdings Co., Ltd.
Royal Holdings Co., Ltd. strives to be Japan’s top-quality provider of food and hospitality services and operates four business segments; chain restaurants business such as Royal Host and TENYA in addition to managing specialty restaurant stores,  contract businesses for in-house catering facilities and restaurants of airport terminal buildings and highway service areas, hotel business management including the Richmond Hotel, and food service businesses that include food infrastructure functions such as manufacturing, sales, and logistics.


＜For press inquiries, contact:＞

Sojitz Royal Cafe Corporation　press@srcafe.co.jp
Sojitz Corporation Public Relations Dept.　+81－03－6871－3404
Royal Holdings Co., Ltd.　+81－03－5707－8852

For general inquiries, contact:　https://www.srcafe.co.jp/contact/